Postcolonial Literature: The Black British Bildungsroman?- Lecturer
- Silvia Gerlsbeck
- Details
- Proseminar
2 cred.h
Time and place: Tue 12:15 - 13:45, C 301
- Contents
- Black? British? Bildungsroman? These – by no means undisputed – categories and their synthesis into a distinct literary genre require careful consideration regarding their historical development and their contemporary (re-)negotiations. In this seminar, we will look at exemplary texts by artists who are often subsumed under the category ‘Black British Writers’. We will analyse how they draw upon elements of the novel of formation (Bildungsroman) in order to express and negotiate issues of identity, generational conflict, home, belonging and becoming in post-war, postcolonial England. By portraying the protagonists’ individual formation, these writers raise larger issues like cultural clashes and change, creating new spaces, inscribing oneself into a literary tradition and so consequently ‘re-write’ Britain.
- Recommended literature
- Please purchase and read the following books before term:· Selvon, Sam. The Lonely Londoners. London: Penguin, 2006 [1956]. Print.· Dabydeen, David. The Intended. London: Vintage, 1993 [1991]. Print.· Smith, Zadie. White Teeth. London: Penguin, 2000. Print.
- Additional information
- Department: Chair of English Literature and Culture (Prof. Dr. Feldmann)
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